Flap locking shipping box



Jan. 1, 1935. c, H, GooDYEAR FLAP LOCKINB SHIPPING BOX Filed March 26, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan- 1, 1935. c. H. GOODYEAR 1,986,145

FLAP LOCKING SHIPPING BOX Filed March 26,I 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inde/7 n' 'Mr/(J vadyedr VVV closure elementsecurely fastened after each in-v Jan. 1, 1935 PATENT OFFICE Fmr LOCKING smrrmG nox Charles H. Goodyear, Portland, Oreg., assignor of one-half to Frank C. Stettin', Portland, Oreg.

. Application March 26, 1934, serial No. '111.314, .e `z claims. (c1. .22a-45) Theobjectfof inventionisto'lprovide an inexpensive light weight box adapted especially for permitting easy` inspection of its' contents, as is j required for example in the shipping of fruit.

ifv When fruitis shipped there is generallyv an inspection ofthe fruit at the shipping point by a Federalor State goverment agent, with subsequent inspection' by the commission merchant v'after the fruit4 hasfreached its destination, and

.-flnally inspection from time to time by prospective purchasers. It essential, therefore, that a boxv intended forv the'use mentioned be so 'con-'1, structed that it may .not only be easily openedf toallow inspection of itscontents, but'alsobe@ repeatedly opened and closed andvits coverV orspection.

' -1 -The particular' object of my invention, accordingly, is 'togprovidea vbox"with.'a hinged cover or closure sectionv with v a-simplefmeans for 'keep-J ing the cover securely closed, but also facilitating opening vv-up of the l cover` yby the releasing and I Ahand wheneverit is desiredr to do'fso. Y

I attain this object Aby providinga hinged cover section terminatingrin a lip, the exteriorv face of which lip 'at its free edge is provided with a locking abutment, and by providing a cooperating locking abutment yon the' interior face of the box wall facing the locking lip, so thatwhen 30 the cover section is pressed down into closed position the cooperating locking abutments will engage each other; and further, in order to maintain such lockingv engagement, by making the cover lip adapted normally to be resiliently held at an obtuse angle with the interior face of the cover section, so that when the cover is closed the locking abutment of the cover lip will be held under tension against the opposed side Wall, thus assuring the engagement of said cooperating locking abutments until the cover is manually released.

A further object of my invention-and the preferred mode of constructing my boxis to provide a hinged cover or closure section of the construction mentioned, for both top and bottom of the box so that the box may be readily opened without turning it over-which in a heavy box is an awkward procedure-and further to permit and facilitate the inspection of the pack at both top and bottom.

A further object of my invention is to provide a box embodying the special features above mentioned but constructed in such manner that it may be folded flat for shipment.

The above mentioned objects and incidental .receive the pack, which lining features I attain by construction of my box in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter fully described.

'-In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective of my pasteboard box closed with vthe upper hingedcover section sealed by a strip of gummed paper;

Fig. 2 illustrates the mode in which the hinged top or cover section of the box is manually released and opened;

Fig. 3 shows a perspective section taken transversely thru the middle of my box in the position shown by Figs. 1 and 2, and illustrates the details of construction of my box;

3a is an enlarged sectional detail of the front lower corner of Fig.`3; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective section of 'a corner of my box giving a view of the interior -face of the side wall with which the cover section is interlocked when closed;

Fig. 5 shows a. blank sheet cut for. making my box; f v

Fig. 6 shows the body of the box formed and the box arranged flat for shipment;

Fig. 7 shows an insert or lining to be placed within the b ox after the box has been set up to serves to strengthen the box; and

Fig. 8shows a strip which may be placed inside on the bottom of the box, also placed on top of the pack to add strength to the box and to give greater protection to the pack.

Referring first to the blank shown by Fig. 5, the broken .lines represent folds or creases in the paper board or material from which the box is made. The rectangles a and b constitute the two cover sections, a denoting the upper cover or lid, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Both cover sections are provided with lips c, c' which are folded up on the lines cL--e and d-e',' respectively, and the aps f and f' of the lips c and c' vare folded back on the lines g-h and g'h and securely fastened against the outer face of the lips by wire staples, or other means, to form a loclnng abutment, as shown in Fig. 3.

The rectangle i in Fig. 5 constitutes the right front wall or front face of 'thejbox as viewed in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and the flaps-gi and ii folded upon the lines 1c and lc', respectively, are fastened against the inside of the face i (see Fig. 4) to form the cooperating locking abutments to engage the abutments f and f', respectively, of the lips c, c of the top and bottom cover sections. o and n are the ends of the box, and m is the rear side wall or face.

against the adjacent wall of the box when the cover is closed, thus securely locking the cover in .place.

When the box has been set up ready for use the lining or insert l shown in Fig. '7 is placed inside the box with the surface i covering the interior face of the front side wall i of the box, and the surfaces o', n' covering the inside of the ends o and n, respectively, and the sections m covering the inside of the rear wall m. When the .bottom cover has been closed by pressing the lip c up between the frontwall i and section i' of the lining, causing the abutment f to engage the abutment i', the board or lining strip b', shown in Fig. 8, is placed inside the box on the bottom and serves as a supporting brace for the sides and ends of the insert l. The box may then be lled and a strip similar to b placed on top of the box contents. Finally the top cover is closed by pressing thel lip c down between the front wall i of the box and the corresponding section of the lining i until the locking abutment f engages the locking abutment i. The resiliency of the material of which the box is made, which causes the lip c normally to extend at an obtuse angle with the under face of the cover a (see Fig. 3) Will keep the abutment ,f pressed firmly against the interior face of the front wall z' and thus engaged with the abutment fi. 'Ihis is also true of the lip c' and abutment f' of the lower cover or closure section. Furthermore, the pressure of the box contents against the lining i' will serve as an additional means of keeping the lips and abutments of the upper and lower covers rmly in locking engagement.

The opening up of either cover is a simple matter and is done easily by inserting the hand between the cover lip or closure section, and outside wall, as shown in Fig. 2, forcing the outside Wall i away suiliciently from the cover lip to disengage the locking abutments and permit the cover or closure section to be pulled up. Should it be desired to seal the box to protect it against unauthorized opening, or for other reasons, this can be done by a gummed strip of paper or seal, as indicated at s in Fig. 1.

I claim:

1. A box including a body, a cover movably connected to the body, one wall of the body being composed of two sections forming a double thickness and open at the upper edge, the cover having a locking lip to be inserted between the sections of the wall of double thickness, the free edge of the locking lipbeing provided on the outer surface thereof with a locking abutment, the free upper edge of the outer section of the wall of double thickness being provided on the inner surface thereof with a strip forming a locking abutment, the locking lip being inserted between the sections of the wall of double thickness to cause the locking abutment on the lip to ride past below and beneath the locking lip on the outer section of the wall of double thickness, whereby to lock the cover to the body, the locking means being wholly concealed when the cover is in closingv position and the abutments being separable to re'- lease the cover by outward pressure on the abutment-carrying section of the wall of double thickness, whereby the locking function of the box is capable of continued reuse.

2. A box including a body and a cover therefor movably secured at one edge to the body, one wall of the body being composed of two sections forming a double thickness, with the upper portion of the outer section of such wall being turned inwardly and downwardly against the inner surface of such section to provide a locking abutment between the sections, the cover having a locking lip to be inserted between the sections of the double wall of the body in closing the cover, said locking lip having its lower edge turned upwardly and against the outer surface of the lip to provide a locking abutment on said outer surface, the lip of the cover .being inserted between the .sections of the double wall to cause the abutment on the lip to ride past the abutment on the double wall section and beneath the same to lock the lip and thereby the cover in place, the locking means provided by the abutments being wholly concealed when the cover is in place and being separable to release the cover at will by spreading the outer section of the double wall to a degree to permit the abutment on the locking lip to move freely upwardly past the abutment on the outer section of the double wall, whereby the locking function of the box is capable of continued reuse.

CHARLES H. GOODYEAR. 

